Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Skills used by players on other players.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 7535207" data-attributes="member: 6779196"><p>This conversation has made me think about how I handle NPCs “using social skills” against PCs and if there’s a better way to handle that. So far, I have basically just not done it. I mostly just act out NPCs social interactions, and the only time I roll a die on their behalf is when they lie, to see if I tell the players that the NPC is clearly lying. Observant players can also sometimes pick up on this and notice that if I roll a d20 while they’re interacting with an NPC, the NPC is lying. And NPCs with proficiency in skills like intimidate end up going to waste. Thus far, I’ve just accepted those drawbacks, but thanks to this thread, I’m going to try something different in my next campaign, which is starting on Monday.</p><p></p><p>I think I’m going to have players resolve social actions that target them, whether the actor is a PC or an NPC. When I’m playing an NPC, I’ll just act out or paraphrase what they say, and let the players react as they wish, as I do now. When a player isn’t sure how they want their character to react to something, they can ask me to make a check for the NPC to resolve the uncertainty. So, when an NPC says something you think sounds fishy, you can choose to believers it, disbelieve it, or call for them to make a Deception check if you’re unsure. When an NPC says something threatening, you can choose to be frightened or not, or call for them to make an Intimidation to help you decide. Etc.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Charlaquin, post: 7535207, member: 6779196"] This conversation has made me think about how I handle NPCs “using social skills” against PCs and if there’s a better way to handle that. So far, I have basically just not done it. I mostly just act out NPCs social interactions, and the only time I roll a die on their behalf is when they lie, to see if I tell the players that the NPC is clearly lying. Observant players can also sometimes pick up on this and notice that if I roll a d20 while they’re interacting with an NPC, the NPC is lying. And NPCs with proficiency in skills like intimidate end up going to waste. Thus far, I’ve just accepted those drawbacks, but thanks to this thread, I’m going to try something different in my next campaign, which is starting on Monday. I think I’m going to have players resolve social actions that target them, whether the actor is a PC or an NPC. When I’m playing an NPC, I’ll just act out or paraphrase what they say, and let the players react as they wish, as I do now. When a player isn’t sure how they want their character to react to something, they can ask me to make a check for the NPC to resolve the uncertainty. So, when an NPC says something you think sounds fishy, you can choose to believers it, disbelieve it, or call for them to make a Deception check if you’re unsure. When an NPC says something threatening, you can choose to be frightened or not, or call for them to make an Intimidation to help you decide. Etc. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Skills used by players on other players.
Top